A Nation with the Soul of a Church

How Christian Proclamation Has Shaped American History

O. C. Edwards Jr., James Dunkly

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780313393853
• eBook ISBN:
  9780313393860
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

From the very beginning, religious leaders have influenced the course of American history—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. This book examines those Christian sermons that set or changed the course of the nation.

What did 18th-century preacher Jonathan Edwards really mean to convey with is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon? What Southern minister did most to encourage secession of the Southern states from the Union? And why does Martin Luther King Jr. need to be remembered for more than his "I Have a Dream" speech? This book examines the sermons that have shaped American history from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the Obama administration. It provides extended biographical treatments of those who preached them, thereby providing readers with the historical context of the sermon, an explanation of what made these orations so effective, and an understanding of the role of religion in American history.

Author O.C. Edwards Jr. supplies insightful and interesting coverage of Christian preachers and sermons that will engage anyone interested in America's religious or social history. The book addresses the religious philosophies and speeches of individuals such as William Sloan Coffin Jr., Russell Conwell, Charles Coughlin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Billy Graham, Anne Hutchinson, Martin Luther King Jr., Patricia Merchant, John Winthrop, and Jeremiah Wright.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 “A Modell of Christian Charity”: John Winthrop (1588–1649)
• 2 “Our God Sent a New Storm”: Anne Hutchinson
• 3 “The Limit of Endurable Ecstasies”: Jonathan Edwards
• 4 The Tolerable Catechist: Jonathan Mayhew
• 5 “The Impassioned Little Saint with the Burning Heart”: William Ellery Channing
• 6 “The Cultural Priest and Visionary”: Ralph Waldo Emerson
• 7 “I Am a South Carolinian, You Know”: Benjamin Morgan Palmer
• 8 “In the Next Generation, I Shall Be Orthodox Enough”: Henry Ward Beecher
• 9 “The Penniless Millionaire”: Russell H. Conwell
• 10 A Social Evangelist: Washington Gladden
• 11 Casting Out Demon Rum: Billy Sunday
• 12 “The Great Divide,” Part I: William B. Riley
• 13 “The Great Divide,” Part II: Harry Emerson Fosdick
• 14 “The Most Noticeable Public Religious Voice”: Charles E. Coughlin
• 15 “A Realist without Despair, an Idealist without Illusion”: Reinhold Niebuhr
• 16 “The Moral Leader of Our Nation”: Martin Luther King Jr.
• 17 “Above All a Preacher”: William Sloane Coffin Jr.
• 18 “America’s Pastor”: Billy Graham
• 19 An Aptly Named Prophet: Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Index